Multi-gigibit chip-to-chip interconnect channels can be very lossy. For example, they may attenuate high frequency signals more than low frequency signals. This frequency dependent difference in signal attenuation can complicate the recovery of received data and can limit the maximum speed of data transfer.
Conventional systems frequently use transmit pre-emphasis and/or receive continuous-time equalization (CTE) to mitigate signal attenuation on a lossy channel. As data transfer rates increase, the power consumed by these conventional methods also increases. Thus, in conventional systems, more and more power is being consumed to achieve a target bit-error rate (BER).